Developing a Missions Strategy That Fits Your Church

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Developing a Missions StrategyThat Fits Your
Church

• Part II Establishing Priorities

David Mays
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I. CONTENT

• B. Secondary Inputs for Setting Priorities

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Strategy Content

• A. Primary Inputs
• Scripture - Goal
• Missions - Scope
• Church - Purpose
• The World - Challenges

• B. Secondary Inputs
• Audience
• Balance
• Focus
• History
• Our Own
• Our Roles
• Participation
• Partnership
• Task

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Audience

• Are some groups especially critical or strategic?
• World regions? Continents? Countries?
• World religions? (Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist,
  Other?)
• People with least access to the Gospel? No
  church?
• Nominal Christians?
• Persecuted church? Developing church?
• Needy people? Suffering people?
• Children and/or youth?
• Local Internationals?
• Are we focused on a particular audience now?

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Audience

• In our strategy the choice of people to whom we
  minister should be
• A central, strategic factor
• An important factor
• Just one of many factors

• This is a
• Big change
• Small change
• No change

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Balance Local Global

• Is local ministry included in missions or
  separate?
• Our community? City? State? U.S.?
• Cross Culture? Same culture?
• Evangelistic ministries? Social ministries?
• How does our church structure for reaching
• People like us nearby?
• People unlike us nearby?
• People unlike us far away?

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Balance Local Global

• Local ministry should be
• Highest portion
• About equal
• Small proportion
• Not at all? Its a separate ministry of the
  church.

• This is a
• Big change
• Small change
• No change

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Focus 1000 Points of Light or a Beacon?

• How broadly should we invest our resources or how
  narrowly should we focus?
• What factors help us decide?
• Our style of church
• Our breadth of interests
• Our current involvements
• Our opportunities to communicate
• Our resources
• A purpose-driven vs. relationship mentality
• Do we have any focus areas now?

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Focus

• We should focus on
• Just 1 or 2 major thrusts
• A few major emphases and several smaller ones
• Several large efforts and many smaller ones
• A broad variety of missionaries, projects and
  partnerships

• This is a
• Big change
• Small change
• No change

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History

• How has God led us in the past?
• What missions efforts have been important to us?
• What missionaries have we been involved with?
• What factors have determined our decisions?
• Which of these factors are still important to us?
• What do we strongly want to continue?

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History

• Is it important to maintain the ministries and
  values of our past or do we need to change? How
  much?
• How can we best minimize trauma in transition?
• Critical ministries
• High level of congregational investment
• High level of missionary/ministry dependence on
  us
• Is there a compelling reason to break with the
  past?
• To become more effective and purposeful
• To gain leadership and congregational support

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History

• Our new strategy should
• Be a lot like now
• Make minor changes slowly
• Make major changes slowly
• Make major changes quickly
• The biggest change should be ___________________

• This is a
• Big change
• Small change
• No change

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Our Own

• What priority do we give to personnel from our
  church? Our fellowship or denomination?
• What value do we place on a prior relationship
  with the ministry, missionary, or organization?
• How important have relationships been in the
  past?
• Is this too important to us or not important
  enough?
• Will we partner with missionaries, organizations
  or projects with which we do not have a history
  of relationships?

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Our Own

• In our new strategy partnering with our own
  should be
• Central to our strategy
• One of a few important factors
• Just one of many factors

• This is a
• Big change
• Small change
• No change

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5. Our Roles

• What priority should we give to getting involved
  in ministries that fit our congregation?
• This could involve our particular social
  situation our spiritual gifts, vocations,
  skills, expertise or other special
  circumstances involving our church.
• It could relate to our values, philosophy of
  ministry, or the special connections and bridges
  God has place in our path.
• See Building Global Vision, David Mays, pp. 49-55

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Our Church Roles References

• Building Global Vision, David Mays
• Our Church Worksheet, Stuff II, p. 18
• Our Values, Stuff IV, p. 25

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Partnership

• How important is it for our church to partner
  with other organizations in missions ministry?
• How important is it for those we support to work
• In teams?
• With churches or organizations on the field?
• With other churches, organizations or movements
  based in the U.S or in our area?
• With our denomination or a particular agency?
• What partnerships are we involved in now?

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Partnership

• In our new strategy partnership arrangements
  should be
• Central to what we do
• One of a few important factors
• Just one of many factors

• This is a
• Big change
• Small change
• No change

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Participation

• Is it important for our people to be able to
  participate directly in the ministry?
• Is it important that it occurs where we can go?
• Is it important that there is work we can do?
• Does it have to be nearby?
• Is it important that our people benefit from it?

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Participation

• In our new strategy the participation of people
  in our congregation should be
• Central to what we do
• One consideration
• Not very important

• This is a
• Big change
• Small change
• No change

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Task

• Is it important for us to focus on ministry that
  we understand is critical, essential, or
  strategic?
• Pre-evangelism? Friendship? Translation?
• Evangelism? Church planting? Discipleship?
• Leadership development?
• Service? Support?
• Compassion? Relief? Development?
• Social justice? Poverty?
• Improving quality of life?
• Are we strong on a particular task now?

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Task

• In our strategy the choice of strategic tasks
  should be
• A central, strategic factor
• An important factor
• Just one of many factors

• This is a
• Big change
• Small change
• No change

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Discussion

• B. Secondary Inputs
• Audience
• Balance
• Focus
• History
• Our Own
• Our Roles
• Participation
• Partnerships
• Task

• Which have been most important in our past?
• Which are most important for the Kingdom?
• What needs to change?
• Who needs to change?
• Where do we need education?

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Discussion

• B. Secondary Inputs
• Audience
• Balance
• Focus
• History
• Our Own
• Our Roles
• Participation
• Partnership
• Task

• Which do you think are most important to key
  others?
• Who has vested interests?
• Where do you anticipate disagreement?
• Prayer Items?

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Secondary Inputs for Establishing Priorities
Input A Priority B Priority Notes
Audience
Balance
Focus
History
Our Own
Our Roles
Participation
Partnership
Task
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The Key Question
How do you draw people away from their personal
preferences and bring the focus back to the Key
Question?

• What does God want to accomplish in the world
  through our church?

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Strategy Content

• B. Secondary Inputs
• Audiences
• Ministry Tasks
• Balance
• Focus
• History
• Relationships
• Our Roles
• Partnership
• Participation

• Steps for our group
• Items for Prayer

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End of Section Two